June 6th RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 10:25 AM

Primarily gonna deal with Supergirl 18, and it's more an essay than a review, so you've been warned.

Supergirl 18

It was a couple months or so back that I was reading the ole DC Nation column in the back of one of my weekly selections. Something there, something small, almost a throwaway line, gave me a tingle in the back of my head, but I didn't think anything of it. It was, after all, simply a quick little blurb, one little sentence. It was someone, probably Dan Dido, talking about how they wanted more teenage girls reading Supergirl.

And so it is that memory came rushing back about about mid-way through Supergirl 18. I'll be a good reviewer and not spoil anything about the plot and ultimate conclusion of this recent “origin” arc. Suffice to say, my hunch it had something to do with the multiverse was correct, though not in the way I originally assumed. It speaks volumes that after a few issues of pure weird-assery I had forgotten completely about the shadowy female figure that had been dogging Kara many issues earlier.

Supergirl 18 is primarily about 2 Kara Zor-El's beating the crap out of each other while the one claiming to the “real” Supergirl, the one whose death I shed some tears over back in the mid-80's, points out how much the new one sucks. Old Supergirl Fanboy dream, right? Not really. Joe Kelly does a very good job of throwing some deep contrast between the old Supergirl and the new one. Like it or not, the original Kara Zor-El wasn't a very deep character. She was, as she so proudly proclaims in this issue, perfect.

A lot of the “boring” claims tossed around by Superman-haters against Clark pretty much went double for the original Supergirl. She was perfect. She had little motivation for what she was doing, other than she was “good.” She was a purely stock superhero from central casting, with little in the way of a highly distinctive personality. Of course, that appealed to me a great deal when I was 10, and I still have all those fond memories.

That's why a lot of people don't like the new Supergirl, those fond memories. The new angst-y teen isn't very appealing to 30 year old white guy comic geeks. Come to find out, she's not supposed to be. She's supposed to appeal to teenage girls. And there-in lies the problem. This isn't a “Minx” label comic. It's got a oval with “D” and “C” in the middle of it, and that's what appeals to 30 year old white guy comic geeks. Someone in marketing thought it would a tremendously great idea to try and go against the core brand. Not only that, they thought they'd try to bring in a new kind of reader to a brand she probably has reticence to associate with.

So, here I am, 30(2) year old white guy comic geek reading a comic aimed at teenage girls. I'll keep going, as this creative disjunction will be resolved sooner or later, either via recognition that this simply can't work or cancellation. Do I want the perfect Supergirl back? No. I want a creatively compelling character that, if it's even possible, will appeal to both teenage girls and 30 year old white guy comic geeks.

Okay... That's probably not possible.

Oh, and the art was kind of... poor... to boot. Not sure why they decided to bring in a pick-up team on such a “big” issue. Perhaps they're searching for just the right teenage girl friendly “look”.

Birds of Prey 107

Kara Zor-El may be trying to appeal to teenage girls, but Tora's back, and Tora's Tora. All is (mostly) right with the universe.

Detective Comics 833

Though I'm not quite sure the Dini helmed Countdown has gotten on sure footing yet, he's turning in good work on this signature Bat-book. Bruce is working series of deaths in the Gotham magic community, and turns to one of the DCU's natural choices to help out in that regard- Zatana. To say there's “history” there is understatement. Dini goes even deeper than what we know from the Identity Crisis series, though. His brief but touching exploration of the two interacting as children makes the eventual betrayal all the more emotionally resonant.

One of the things I love about Wikipedia is the little extra things you find out, like just how much Paul Dini might like the Zatana character. This is who he married, after all.

Now, I've just got to find some friendly Norse ice princesses... Taarakians also accepted.